Authors

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2015

Abstract

This paper explores the support for more comprehensive modeling of service systems than that possible through modeling methods developed through partial perspectives, with uncertainties about their wider suitability and need for integration with other methods in this domain. It responds to a Dual Call for Papers from INFORMS Service Science and IEEE Transactions on Service Computing requesting contributions that address the barely explored challenge of establishing links between business views of service systems and more technical views from service computing. Competing definitions of service reveal that most business views of service emphasize acts or outcomes produced for others, whereas a service computing view emphasizes encapsulated functionalities that can be discovered and launched by service consumers. This paper uses work system theory (WST) and a related work system metamodel to represent a business view of service systems. It uses the Unified Service Description Language (USDL 2.0) to represent a service computing view of service systems. Application of the business view to the previously defined EU-Rent example illustrates how successively more detailed business-oriented descriptions of a service situation reveal needs for functionality that are well described by USDL. In other words, business service system views and service computing views, as represented by WST and USDL respectively, serve complementary purposes. WST supports modeling and analysis of business situations, while USDL is the basis of detailed descriptions of services as encapsulated functionality.

Recommended Citation

Alter, S. and Barros, A. (2015) "Using a Work System Metamodel and USDL to Build a Bridge between Business Service Systems and Service Computing," working paper.